Summary: Politico reports that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was one of the House of Representatives’ biggest spenders on congressional office expenses in the first quarter of 2009. “While businesses across the country are cutting back, members of the House saw their own office budgets increase by an average of 7 percent between 2008 and 2009. [An] analysis of the first-quarter 2009 MRA reports shows Michele Bachmann spent more than $380,000 during the three-month period — more than $100,000 more than the average first-quarter spending.”

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Summary: Residents of Tehran, in open defiance of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, climbed to their roofs and shouted “God is Great!” and “Death to the dictator!” in protest to the June 12, 2009 presidential election they believe was rigged in favor of hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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Summary: Intelligence reports indicate terrorist groups that have long used the Internet to spread propaganda are increasingly tapping the Web to teach Islamic extremists how to be hackers, recruiting techies capable of breaching government or other sensitive network systems for cyberwarfare, and raising money through online fraud.

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Summary: Biographical profiles of candidates and other major players in Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential vote.

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Summary: North Korea has threatened a “fire shower of nuclear retaliation” if provoked by the U.S., but U.S. officials are downplaying any imminent threat to the United States of a North Korean missile strike or confrontation between the two countries at sea. … December 16, 2009 update: President Barack Obama has written a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as part of an intense effort to draw the reclusive nation back to nuclear disarmament talks.

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Summary: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has authorized a long-awaited inquiry into the Iraq war, but defied requests from bereaved families and campaigners to hold sessions in public.

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Summary: Weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), compiled from U.S. Department of Defense News Releases.

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Summary: Daily summary of security developments in Afghanistan, as reported by Reuters.

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Summary: Daily summary of security developments in Iraq, as reported by Reuters.

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Summary: Psychological evaluation of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with personality profile and threat assessment, by Aubrey Immelman of the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics.

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